FAQ

What is a CSA?
A CSA ia a farm which sells shares of produce
to members. These shares are boxes of vegetables or other products from
the farm. Consumers become members by purchasing a share, usually
before the season begins, and are rewarded with a box of seasonal
produce each week throughout the growing season. There are benefits for
both the member and the farmer in this relationship. The farmer
receives payments early in the season to help cash flow and to purchase
what is needed for the season. The risk of crop failure is also not
entirely on the farmer. All the members and the farmer share in the
abundance, when it occurs, and the shortages, if they occur. The farmer
also gets to spend growing season time on the produce and non-growing
season time on marketing instead of having to do both in the middle of
summer growing season. And, the farmer has actual contact and
relationships with the people he is growing the food for. the members
benefit by getting freshly picked produce. Usually the farm is organic
or natural and always very local. Members are welcomed by the farmer to
visit the farm, to help, to learn and to get exposed to new produce.
Members also are able to develop a relationship with the actual
provider/grower of their food. For more details please visit the Local Harvest CSA page.

What is organic?
The
term organic has both informal and formal meanings. To many food
consumers today, it refers to something more-or-less vaguely natural
(grown without pesticides, for example) that’s somehow better (or less
bad) for the environment and your health than something that isn’t
organic.
The formal definition of organic does have a lot in common
with this idea, but there’s more to it than simply the absence of
synthetic pesticides. To organic farmers, food processing companies,
scientists, and government regulators, the term organic refers
specifically to food production that follows the rules of the United
States Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program, or NOP. NOP
provides very specific guidelines about both chemicals and practices
that are allowed in the production and processing of foods that end up
being certified as organic by the USDA and other certifying agencies.

It
is worth noting that the NOP does allow the use of some substances –
including pesticides – that are toxic to humans and/or other organisms,
but which are believed to be less harmful to human health and the
environment than analogous chemicals used in so-called conventional
agriculture. One example of such a substance is pyrethrin-based
insecticides, which are derived from flowers (especially
chrysanthemums). While pyrethrins are toxic to humans, they break down
quickly in the environment into harmless compounds.

Other formal
aspects of organic-ness have to do with the use of food additives and
preservatives, for example, and with how animals are treated, rather
than with what chemicals are used in food production. To determine
whether or not a particular compound or practice is or is not considered
organic under the NOP, check the NOP web page.
In particular, you may want to look at what’s called the National List
of Allowed and Prohibited Substances, which tells you what synthetic
substances you may and may not use in an organic farm, garden, or food
processing setting. It is also worth noting that some farmers,
food consumers, and others do not like the NOP very much – they feel it
does not go far enough in specifying an environmentally and socially
responsible set of practices for agriculture and the food industry (the
NOP says little, for example, about how agricultural workers should be
housed, paid, or otherwise treated, such that they can still be
exploited in organic food production and processing just as they have
long been in the conventional system). However, the NOP is an evolving
program and it may in the future tighten regulations about what is
permitted in the production of “organic” foods. For now, the NOP
represents a substantial step away from the mainstream food system of
the last 50 or so years.

What is natural?
The term
natural also has different meanings for different people. As with the
term organic, to many food consumers, it refers to something grown
without pesticides, that's better for the environment and health than
conventionally grown produce. To others people it has a more earthy
definition. This would be that produce is grown only with what nature
provides - water, compost, friendly insects, callused hands, etc.
There is a national certification for naturally grown as well. Ceritfied Naturally Grown, or CNG, is an organization that provides small, local growers with a label and
certification system that is an alternative to the NOP and that consumers can trust and
understand. This is important because extensive paperwork, plus high certification fees, make it unlikely if
not impossible for many small farms to become certified organic.

What is local?
In
2008 Congress passed H.R.2419 which amended the Consolidated Farm and
Rural Development Act. In the amendment locally is defined as ‘‘(I) the
locality or region in which the final product is marketed,
so that the total distance that the product is transported is less than
400 miles from the origin of the product; or ‘‘(II) the State in which
the product is produced". In May 2010 the USDA acknowledged this
definition in an informational leaflet. Even with these federally recognized definitions local is defined differently depending on the person in question.

So, what about Trogg's Hollow?
Trogg's
Hollow is not certified by NOP nor by CNG. While we have no issue with
any of the certifications, it is not an option we can pursue at this
time or at this location. However, we do promise to grow things as
organically, naturally and sustainably as we can. All of our seeds and
plants are certified organic. And, so far we are putting nothing on our
plants other than what nature provides. We reclaim and compost as much
organic material as we can to help rebuild the soil and we do water
when necessary. As far as local, we like to think of it as within a 200
mile radius or so, but we're not strict.